Railway draft rigging



March 21, 1933. w A. GEIGER RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING kw 4 N w. MN

Filed Feb. 13. 19428 Patented Mar. 21,' 1933 WILLIAM A.

GnIGEn', Yor oiIIoAeo, ILLINOIS, AssIGfNoR` 'ro-fw. H. Minna, INC.,

cremonese, ILLINoIs Aconronn'rIoN or DELAWAREv A Y y,

RAILWAY VDRAFT `Inserire Application filed ebruary 13, 1928. SeriaLNo. 254,010.

` This invention relates to yimprovements in railway draft riggings.-

`4As is well known to those skilled in the art,v

there are in service todayon thefrailways, a great number of the old style couplers having shouldered butts or butts havingliner blocks, which style of couplers was originally intended for use withfriveted yoke straps. There is a constant tend'encyto employ with suoli couplers,-hooded Ac'astyokes in lieu of the yoke straps and this necessitates'the usel of some form of locking blocks or keys to provide `an Voperative draft connection between the liner block type'of coupler and hooded oke. i f W if y It is also Vwell known that-there has heretofore been a constant source of 'trouble in maintaining the couplers?"properlyV alined with the shock absorbing device, this being true `not only of the oldstyle couplers but like- Wise true of the morefmodern tcoupler in which the shank is not provided with liner blocks or shoulders. The inabilityv to maintain proper alinement of thecouplers arises from several causes, among them being the looseness of the connection with the yoke and the wearing or distortion of the customary carry iron which permits the head end of the coupler to droop or sag and, on account of the loose connection with the yoke element,

the'coupler is 'permitted to 'tilt yor cock up-V wardly during the coupling of two cars. This drooping and tilting of the coupler not only accentuates thewear and distortion ofthe carry 'iron but lalso causes destruction? of the end buffer casting and further 'allows of the application of eccentric `blows to the shock absorbing device, which isfundesirable and frequently destructive.

VOne object of my invention is to provide a draft rigging whereinsimple` and relatively inexpensive means are provided for main taining acoupler of the shouldered or liner block type in its proper horizontal position in alinement with the shock absorbing device whereby to prevent the'wear or distortion of the parts and eliminate" the applicationof eccentric blows to the shock absorbing device.

VAmore specific object of `Iny'invention `is v to provide an improved yoke Vto which may be interlooked acoupler of the Vshouldered ror liner block type and=which yoke is provided with means for maintaining the horizontal position of the coupler in all operative' posi-v tionsof the parts and more especially such an arrangement wherein a longer stroke of PATENT 'OFI-10.1 7

the draft gear is permitted than has heretofore been customary in standard draft gears. ,t .i A still Vfurther object of my invention :is to provide anovelyoke having the character# istics above'V indicated, vwhich yoke is pro-` vided with integral .means ffor limiting the draft movement of the yoke and preferably such means so arrangedas to limit the draft action to `an amount vless than the permissible buff action; f

. Other objects ofthe invention will more clearlyv appear from the description andV claims hereinafter following., Y In the drawing forming a part of this speci ification, Fig.` l is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view `of a portion of a railway car showing my improvements in connection therewith. F ig. `2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view corresponding to the line. 2-2 of Fig. Vl. Fig. 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectionall view corresponding to the line 3-3 of Fig. "1. And Fig. 4 is a broken view similar` to F ig. l, illustrating another embodiment of my invention. i i .Referring first to the construction illus! trated in lfigs. l, 2 and' 3, 10-l0 denote the usualchannel draft' sills of a 'railway' car underframe and which may constitute parts ofthe usual center sills. The usual bolster is indicated at `ll, the same having 'a center filler casting 12 which, in the `construction shown, is providedwith forward extensions 155-13 having vertical Aflanges 14 at their front ends, lsaid flanges 14 constituting the rear vertical stops of thedraft rigging. 'The ends ofthe draft sills are-suitably connected to the end sill Vl5 of the car and the opening provided for the reception vof the coupler is reinforced by a `suitable casting 16 which also constitutes the usual buffer block of the car.- The coupleris sustained bythe usual carry iron 17 and the parts of the draft rigging are sustained by detachable'saddle types i `of a pressure transmitting wedge 19 at its frontA end and arranged for a longcompression stroke, preferably 5 or 6".

The coupler C is providedwith the usual horn 20, shank 21 and upper and lower liner blocks22-22 at the butt end thereof. The coupler shown Vis one, of wellv knownk type, as will be apparent to those skilled in the 9 art. r.The butt of said coupler normally engages a front-follower E which is ormay be of the usual rectangular form.

The yoke A is `shown in the.l form of a cast- Ving and comprises upper and lower arms 23-23 united at their rear ends by a vertical section, 24. At its front end, lthe yoke is formed with a tubularV or box-like section integral with the arms-.23, said ysection comprising upper and lower Walls 25-26 and side walls 27-27. v

The top wall 25 extends horizontally for the greater portion of its'length as indicated at125 and, atits outer end, has an upstand-y ing flange 225 normally'engaging the horn 5 20. Rearwardly .of the horizontal section 125, said top wall is upwardly offset as indicated at 325, so as to bring it into aline-` ment with the upper'arms 23 of thej yoke. The lower wall 26 extends horizontally from its outer end to a point adjacent the shoulders or liner blocks of the coupler where itis .downwardly offset as indicated at 126, the two offsets thus providing rearwardly facing shoulders 425` and 426. As will be under.n stood, the distance between the top and bottom walls 25 and 26 is just suflicient to permit the insertion of the enlarged butt end of the coupler.

To sustain the head end of the coupler after the liner blocks are in position, I may employ an insert 40 at the outer end of the lower wall thereof, said insert being maintained` in place by any suitable means such as a dowel pin 41, engagedv in corresponding T3 openings in said bottom wall` 26. Said inf sert 40 will be putin placeafter the enlarged lbutt has been movedrto its rearrnost position but before the locking blocks B are inserted,` it being evidentthatthere will besuficient clearance vto permit elevationof the coupler shank for this purpose'.y n c i vThe sidewalls 27 of the yoke are Vforwardly laterally flared, as best indicated in Fig. 2. -In lineV withY the shoulders of the `coupler,- the side walls are provided Vwith move in unison in a draft action, thus actu.

ating the yoke when the couplerv is pulled outwardly.v

lThe front followerE normallyY engages front vertical stop lugs 29-29 formed on lug castings, and itwill also be noted that said lug castings havey narrow vertically disposed flanges 30-3O on their inner sides,

which partially or Wholly ovoflo tho .ends of the locking blocks B when the yoke and coupler are in position. ln this manner, the

lockingblocks are conned against lateral Y shifting and thus maintained in operative position and danger of fouling of the ends of said locking blocks with any other projecting part of the stop lugs is thereby avoided. i Y l Each of the upper'and lower arms-23 of the yoke A is provided with v,lateral pro# jections 12S-123, as best shown in Fig. 2, Said vprojections havngfforwardly faong shoulders'223 which are normally disposed at a distance fromtlie front stop` lngs 29` Corresponding to tho-desired draft, aotoo- Said shoulders-223 are in line with the front stop lugs 29and consequently, ina draft action, Said. Shouldoro 223 Will engage tho Stop .Shoulders 29 and limitihodraft more ment of the yoke and consequently the draft action of the Shook absorbing device .to the desired amount, whiclnpreferably, Will not exceed the customary StrokeI of 2%7 now employe-f1. s

In a buff action, it is evident that the yoke A and Coupler and front follower will move rearwardly in unison andthe fnlllong compression stroke of the shock absorbing device D will be obtained. The limit of the buff action is determined by the follower E .engaging the outer ond of the .Shell element of the friction device. The space between tho flange 225 and the end buforoastng Will preferably be made slightlyl greater than the normal buff travel butany over-loadA or eX- cessive buff movement will be further resisted by the engagement ofV said yoke flange 2,25 with the buffer casting, as will be obvious,y

Referring to the modioaton Shown 'in Fig. 4, the only changes involved are with rospo@ to thoyoko, F and. tho ooupler G- The latter is of .an olderty pe but somewhat different `from the coupler C in that the cou-l Po G has a much dooror butt 42m-that the .Supporti at .tho bottomof thobuttwllrnooes- Sar-ily boia .1 ,lower plane than the .Support ico .be provided with an interior vertical shoulder or lug 44 adapted to directly engage the upper shoulder 45 of the coupler butt. With this arrangement only one locking key 46 is necessary, the same being entered laterally through the side walls of the yoke Fand resting upon the bottom wall 47 of the front end ofthe yoke, as clearly shown in the ligure. A support insert 48 is employed in this construction, to sustain the outer or head end of the coupler, said insert 48being of considerably deeper dimension, however,

- due to the fact that thelbottom wall 47 of the yoke is necessarily in a lower plane than the bottom wall of the yoke A. The operation and functions of the parts are the same as those above setv forth in connection with the structure shown in Figs. 1, 24 and 3.

With the arrangement of yoke and connections for the liner block types of coupler shown, it, will be observed that the Vcenter line of the coupler will always be maintained in alinement with the center line or axis of the shock absorbing device, therev being no possibility of the coupler tilting with respect to the yoke. Furthermore, due to the fact that the bottom walls of the-yoke are extended outwardly beyond the carry 'iron and to points in line with the coupler head, drooping or sagging of the free-end of the coupler is eliminated and hence excessive wear or distortion of the carry iron or application of eccentric blows is prevented.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the

same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended'hereto.

1I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a combined alinging and draft member for draft riggings comprising: A loop portion adapted to receive a cushioning device therein; a hollow'hood portion at one end of said loop portion'adapted to receive the shank of a coupler Vhaving an enlarged, shouldered butt with liner blocks thereon, said hood being shouldered to co-operate with said liner blocks, said shoulders of the hood being of such a size as to freely receive the shouldered coupler butt therebetween; a bottom wall extended forwardly from said hood portion to a point approximately in line with .the coupler head; and detachable means, at the outer end of said wall for supporting the shank of the coupler to maintain the axis of the cou- -said means including portions formed inthe coupler shank through the outer end of the hood.

2. Ina draft rigging, the combination with j draft sills; of front and rear stop means; a shock absorbing device of relatively long compression stroke; a yoke; and means limiting the draft movement of said yoke to less than the compression stroke of said device,

tegrally with said, yoke and engaging front stop means of thesills.`

3. In a railway draft rigging, the combinathe `tion with spaced draft sills; offront and rear stops on said sills; a coupler; a yoke connected to the coupler; a front main follower and a shock absorbing mechanism within the yoke, said shock absorbing mechanism including a friction shell having the front end thereof spaced from said frontv follower, engagement of 'said' front follower and shell -limiting the compression stroke of.

`the mechanism in buff; stop fl'angesvon the Ayoke normally' disposedV inwardly of said front stops and spaced a distance therefrom less than vthenormal spacing between the y front follower and frontend of the friction shell, thereby restricting the draft stroke of the `shock absorbing mechanism lto less y than the bufiing stroke thereof.

In witness that I claiml the foregoing'I ,95 have hereunto subscribed `my name this 6th day of Febr., 1928. Y

WILLIAM A. GEIGER.

pler constant with reference to theA center line of said draft member, said detachable means when removed permitting insertion of 

